La sentinelle

As with, well let's be honest, all of Nicolas Cage movies, then I am sitting down to watch the movie with very little expectations, because there is an overshadowing tendency that his movies turn out to be generic and cut from overly used recipes. And should it turn out to be that particular movie that surprises, once in a blue moon, then it is that much more pleasant to watch.

However, "Dying of the Light" is one of those types of movies that has potential to be interesting, but it was squandered at the hands of director Paul Schrader. The movie turned out to be a very predictable and thus very generic movie for the thriller/drama genre.

The acting in the movie was as to be expected. You have your ever-present single facial expression and random outbursts of loud voicing from Nicolas Cage. And he seemed like a fish out of water in this movie, trying to portray a government employee diagnosed with a debilitating mental illness.

The movie follows a generic script and storyline, which has been seen and used in countless other movies prior to this 2014 movie. As such, then there is very little new to be had for the audience that actually do take the time to sit down and watch "Dying of the Light". And while it was scripted, then the movie also progressed way too fast, which essentially made the movie seemed forced and shallow.

You know what you are getting yourself into here if you take a minute to read the synopsis, and with the thought of it being another one of the assembly line produced Nicolas Cage movies. And I can't claim to say that this particular movie is outstanding from the numerous other movies that Nicolas Cage stars in. As such, then I am rating "Dying of the Light" a mere four out of ten stars.

Nicolas Cage has done quite a lot of movies recently. Not all have a certain quality, so considering that, this movie is not that bad. It's improbable and unlikely and a lot of other things too, but when you hear his speech (full of clichés, but nevertheless) almost at the beginning of the movie, you can't help but see the actor shining through. There is still fight left in this "old dog" (no offense to Nic, quite the contrary actually).

Talking about fight, this is about stubbornness and unlikely allies (Yelchin, whose true motives remain unclear to me, other than him being nice ... maybe Cages character reminds him of his dad?), but also about figuring how to let go (or not) of the past. There are some nice touches to this, that can make it worthwhile, but you'll have to decide if this is something you wanna watch (make-up effects are good on Cages face)

It is well Known, or maybe only well Known Among Film Geeks, that this Film has been Disowned by Director Paul Schrader and other Principals Involved in Making this Movie, and it is, Among Other Things, a Film Fanatic's Frustration.

The Director has Advised that No One See this Film.

One has to Question the Sanity of Producers that Hire the likes of Edgy Existential Film Artists and then Decide it is too Edgy and Existential for the Box Office, take the Thing Out of Their Hands and Tinker with it like a Naughty Kid Pulling the Wings off Flies. Shame Shame.

What the Movie Going Public is left with is Not a Bad Movie. enough of Schrader's Fingerprints Remain to make it an Offbeat CiA Thriller. What Doesn't Remain is the Cinematographers and Directors Visual Palette as it was "Digitally Manipulated". Shame Shame.

Nic Cage, in another Self-Realized Performance that Cannot be Ignored. He manages to be just a Heartbeat from Over-the-Top and it is usually a Fascination to Behold. If Cage does Anything Anymore it is a Willingness to Work.

The Movie may not be Appreciated for what it is, as Opposed to what it Could Have Been, it is still Worth Catching, as is all of Their Work, both Schrader and Cage are Interesting, No Matter the Product.

This film is written and directed by one of my favorite filmmakers working today, Paul Schrader. He's most famous for writing Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. However, he also wrote Bringing Out the Dead and directed Dog Eat Dog which I both love and both star Nicolas Cage. The weird thing is that neither Paul Schrader or Nic Cage wants you to see this movie. This is because the Dying of the LIght was taken away from the filmmakers and re-edited by the producers without Paul Scharders approval. He claims that he was literally locked out of the editing room while producers edited the film to their liking.

There are points in this film where it truly shows. The version we got is so on and off. There were scenes where I was completely invested in what was unfolding in front of me and other scenes where it was so dull that I just wanted to pass out. The film has great ideas, but it just doesn't do enough with them and when it does something good, the next scene undoes it. At the end of the film, something happens which I found exceptionally impactful and powerful and could have been a great ending, but the next scene completely stabs us in the back and reverses that decision.

The editing is unpleasantly sloppy in places which is most apparent during a brief action sequence halfway through the movie. The main character is also fascinating and while Nicolas Cage does a great job, he just isn't explored enough.

There is a great film here but it just doesn't make it's way to the surface. What is at the surface is a strange mixture of great and bad. Some scenes in this film or fantastic and some are trash. I hope Paul Schrader's version of the film gets released because I'm positive it is much better than what we got here.

The big story associated with this film is that its director, Paul Schrader, was locked out of the editing room and denied final cut. Subsequently, Schrader and the stars have disowned this version. However, despite their reaction out of principle, DYING OF THE LIGHT isn't that terrible. It's merely underwhelming. Nicolas Cage gives a decent performance as Evan Lake, a veteran CIA agent with recently diagnosed dementia. Upon receiving some intelligence which indicates that a former target may still be alive, he decides to go after them before his disease puts him out of commission permanently. At its core, this film has an interesting concept that is never fully realized to its full thematic potential: two nemeses have one final reckoning while each are battling a debilitating disease. From what I saw, Nicolas Cage put in some good character work, and even gets to "rage" a little bit, but he was still hampered by an editing job that seemed to be going for a more streamlined thriller. Due to this, it felt like there was a fair amount of character development missing, mostly from supporting players but also from Cage himself. His disease doesn't take as big of a role as you might think, given its severity. As far as the rest of the cast is concerned, everyone did a good job but they really weren't given a whole lot to work with. Anton Yelchin was the only other name actor I recognized, and his presence seemed rather perfunctory. Perhaps he would have had a larger role in Paul Schrader's cut, but we'll probably never know unless it gets released on Blu-ray/DVD. All of the technical aspects of the film were good, although it did have the rather depressing color palette associated with low-budget Eastern European thrillers. The editing in the fight scenes was a bit choppy, but the camera-work was OK for the most part otherwise. The score also wasn't too memorable, but it still fit the material to a degree. The only part of it I genuinely liked was the track that played over the closing credits. Overall, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece and of course I didn't get one. However, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be either, somewhat to its detriment. Scenes began and then ended without much incident and didn't contribute much to the overall story. A part of me wished that it was worse because at least then it would be memorable. What I got was purely middle-of-the-road and, dare I say it, a little dull. Those looking for a fired-up Nicolas Cage performance should look elsewhere. You'd be perfectly justified in skipping this.